Improvement in furnaces for gas-retorts



Patenyed March 23, 1875.A

D. DAVISON.

Furnace for 'Gas-Retorts.

STATES DARIUS DAVISON, OF NEWT YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN FURNACES FOR GAS-RETORTS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. l6l,2 l2, dated March 23,1875 5 application filed March 27, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DARiUs DAvIsoN, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain Improvements in Furnaces forGas-Retorts, of which the followingvis a specification This inventionconsists in a novel construction and operation of furnaces for heatingretorts for the manufacture of illuminating-gas.

Figure l is a front view of the lower or furnace portion of an oven fora bench of gas-retorts. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the furnace atthe line a: :c in Fig. 55 Fig. 3, a transverse section on line y y, Fig.55 Fig. 4, a horizontal section of the furnace at the line marked z z5-Fig. 5, a vertical longitudinal section of the furnace at the line w lwin Fig. 4.

The dotted lines at the top of Figs. 2 and 5 lindicate the position ofthe two lower retorts of a bench, and their usual proportion to thelength and breadth of the oven, and positions ofthe surroundingbrick-work at the sides and back end thereof.

My invention consists in the construction of certain draft-air iiues,arranged longitudinally in the brick-work ofthe bottom of the oven, ateach side thereof, uniting in an upright Hue at the back of the oven,and from thence leading forward horizontally, and downward over abridge, and from thence horizontally under a drop-bridge, out into thefurnace, over the burning coke or fuel at the back end of the furnace.The said nues at the front end of the furnace have suitable dam pers, toregulate the amount of fresh air to be admitted to the furnace by theflues to produce a proper or complete combustion of the combustiblegases in the oven around the retorts, which gases usually escapeunconsumed in the ordinary practice of working retorts. This obtainsanincreased heat in the oven by a decreased consumption of fuel, and abetter and more equally diffused heat in all parts of the oven andretorts. Such invention is adapted especially to gas-retort furnaces.

l will now proceed to more fully describe the construction, operation,effects, and objects of my invention.

1n the several iigures, A represents the longitudinal horizontaldraft-ai r iiues 5 B, the hor izontal draft-air ues at the back end ofthe oven5 D, forward horizontal draft-air iiue5 E, outlet opening intothe back end of the furnace; F, bridge to prevent the coal or dustfalling or being thrown into the back flue to clog or stop the same 5 G,drop-bridge to prevent coke, fuel, or dust from being thrown or forcedover the bridge F into the back iiue O, to clog or stop the same 5 H,tile covering the top of the lines; I, dampers to regulate the amount ofdraft-air to be admitted over the re. J represents the ordinarydraft-air flues under the lower retorts of a bench5 K, outside stoppersto the usual draft-air iiues 5 L, ordinary furnace door5 M, usualfire-grate. The arrows marked l indicate the ordinary airdraft. Thearrows marked 2 indicate the supplemental or new air-drafts admitted bymy invention to enter the furnace at the back end thereof over theburning fuel.

In the ordinary operation of the tires in the oven-furnace ofgas-retorts the whole draft-air is admitted through the burning coke,together with steam, which constantly arises from the water in theash-pans of all such furnaces. Sufiicientair and steam(which latter isdecomposed, and furnishes oxygen and hydrogen in the burning coke of thefurnace as aids of combustion,) is not, by such arrangement oroperation,supplied to produce complete combustion of all the gaseseliminated from the burning coke, and especially when the fire becomesto any degree clogged with ashes and clinker. Only partial combustion isth us produced; and there arises from the fire a large volume ofhydrogen and carbonic-oxide gases, which enter the oven with no oxygento eifect their combustion, and therefore do not wholly or partially'burn until they are brought in contact with fresh air at the top of theflue, producing there a large volume of intense heat, that is thustotally and wastefully lost. By my invention, however, sufficient freshair, partly heated by the hot brick ues, is introduced to produce acomplete combustion of all such gases in the oven around the retorts.

To operate this invention, after the dues and appurtenances pertainingthereto are properly constructed, as described, the dampers I areadjusted to the apertures of the flues at the front, so as to admit themaximum amount of fresh air required to produce complete com- 2 GLQIbustion in the oven. Then, When the re is cleaned, so that afree draftisobtained through the coke, a large part of the air for combustion passesthrough the burning coke, and a small portion proportionately passesthrough the fresh-air flues A; but, as the ire becomes clogged and thedraft checked thereby through the same, then more fresh air is drawn bythe force of the draft through the ues A into the furnace above thelire, and thus supplies the necessary amount of oxygen to producecombustion of the gases arising from the incandescent coke in thefurnace. Furthermore, the combustion of the gases takes place in allparts of the oven, generating heat at the point or place of combustion,and thereby a more equally diifused heat is obtained in all parts of theoven, all around the retorts, even to the ue under the bottom retort,than can be obtained in the usual Way of burning the `fuel in gas-retortfurnaces.

The results gained by the application of this invention to the furnacesfor heating gas-retorts are, rst, a very material reduction of theamount of fuel to generate any required degree or volume of heat;second, a higher and more equally diffused heat in all parts of theoven, by which all the retorts are heated in all parts to a more equaland better Working temperature for the best results in producing gasfrom the coal.

I claim- The combination of the draftair flues A B G D in the brick-Worksurrounding the furnace of the oven for heating retorts for themanufacture of illuminating-gas, combined with the bridge F, the bridgeG, and the cap-tile H, forming opening E at the back of the furnace, theWhole to be operated, in combination with the furnace, the oven, and theretorts contained therein, substantially as and for the purpose hereindescribed.

DARIUS DAVISON. Witnesses M. RYAN, FRED. HAYNEs.

